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Effect of Al-doping on morphology, structure, and optical band gap of ZnO thin films synthesized by sol–gel spin-coating technique

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Abstract

Thin films of undoped and Al-doped ZnO were produced, and their surface morphology, structure, and optical characteristics were researched. The thin films were produced on glass substrates using the sol–gel spin-coating technique, with Al-doping concentrations of 1.5 and 2.5%. We observed from our structural analysis that, a decrease in grain size after adding Al dopants. Similarly increase in dislocation density (inversely proportional to Crystallinity) was observed after adding Al dopants. According to the SEM data, it is found that the undoped ZnO’s particles are spherical type in shape and agglomerated. The related histograms and distribution curve demonstrate that when Al-dopant concentration rises, the spherical shape particle becomes thinner, indicating a reduction in particle size. Based on the optical transmittance spectrum, the films’ undoped transmittance, which is 75% within the visible wavelength range, falls with rising Al-dopant concentration. Band gaps of the films were observed to decrease with increasing Al-dopant percentage.

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On reasonable request, the corresponding author will provide access to all data supporting the findings of this research.

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Acknowledgements

Authors kindly acknowledge the testing facility provided by Department of Materials Science and Engineering at RUET. In addition, they express gratitude to Muhammad Shahriar Bashar (Principal Scientific Officer, Institute of Fuel Research and Development, BCSIR) for permitting SEM and EDS experiments. Additionally, they would like to thank Dr. Md. Shamim Anower, head of the Department of EEE at RUET, for allowing them to do the XRD analysis.

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The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET), Rajshahi, 6204, Bangladesh

    Golam Murtaza Mirza, Md Mahamud Hasan Tusher, Nazmus Sakib & MD. Naymul Islam

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  1. Golam Murtaza Mirza
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  2. Md Mahamud Hasan Tusher
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  3. Nazmus Sakib
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  4. MD. Naymul Islam
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Contributions

GMM: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, funding acquisition. MMHT: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, writing—original draft, review. NS and MDNI: investigation, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Md Mahamud Hasan Tusher.

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Mirza, G.M., Tusher, M.M.H., Sakib, N. et al. Effect of Al-doping on morphology, structure, and optical band gap of ZnO thin films synthesized by sol–gel spin-coating technique. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 1542 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10958-x

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